Cultivating implement with fertilizer dispenser in handle



Sept 23, 1952 w, PEYTQN 2,611,514

' CULTIVATING IMPLEMENT WITH FERTILIZER DISPENSER m HANDLE Filed Jan. 51. 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTOR. 4%; 7: BY

Sept. 23, 1952 PEYTQN 2,611,514

CULTIVATING IMPLEMENT WITH FERTILIZER DISPENSER IN HANDLE Filed Jan. 51. 194'? 2 SHEETS-SHEET z INVENTOR. m

Patented Sept. 23, 1952 CULTIVATING IMPLEMENT WITH FER-- TILIZER DISPENSER IN HANDLE William F. Peyton, Pittsburgh, Pa. I I Application January 31, 1947, Serial No. 725,527

t This invention relates to new and useful improvements in a plant culture implement and more particularly to one that is adapted to distribute chemical fertilizer in measured volumes when cultivating the soil.

The invention comprises a hoe-like element having prongs for tilling the soil and having a hollow handle which constitutes the storage for fertilizer which is measured off by a valve and delivered to the cultivating end of the tool. 7

The invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the accompanying drawings constituting a part hereof, in which likereference characters designate like parts, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a garden tool embodying the principles of this invention;

Fig. 2 a side elevation of a portion of the tool taken along the line 22, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 a vertical section, partially in elevation, of a portion of the tool taken along the line 33, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 a vertical cross sectional view, partially in elevation, of the hollow handle of the tool and the measuring and distributing valve taken along the line 4-4, Fig. 5 of the drawing;

Fig. 5 a transverse cross section taken along the line 5--5, Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 a similar view taken along the line 6-6, Fig. 4;

Figs. 7 and 8 transverse sections partially in elevation of portions of the valve of Fig. 4 taken along the lines '!1 and 8-8, Fig. 4; Fig. 9 a view in perspective of the valve re 'moved from the casing showing its position relative to a dotted line;

Fig. 10 is a similar view;

Fig. 11 a top plan view of one of the valve partition or end supports; and

Fig. 12 a cross-sectional view thereof taken along the line i'2--I2, Fig. 11.

In the drawings the numeral I designates a cultivating implement having fingers or prongs 2 for tilling the soil as shown in Fig. 2, the implement 1 being attached to a hollow handle 3 fitting in a socket 4 of the implement, the handle having an end closure 5 and a valve generally designated by the numeral 6.

The hollow handle 3 is open at the implement end to discharge fertilizer designated by the reference numeral 1 as shown in Fig. 2. The hollow handle portion is charged with a chemical fertilizer in the chamber 311 between the valve 6 and the end of the hollow handle, the chamber 3a when filled being closed by the screw cap 5. As

1 Claim. (Cl. 222191) is well recognized by gardeners, the use of too much or uneven distribution of chemical fertilizer has its disadvantages and is oftentimes destrue tive of the plants. For this reason the application of fertilizer by filling holes made. with a dibble around the plant gives unsatisfactory results. Spreading it over the surface of the plants islikewise undesirable and the present invention is designed to overcome these difficulties by distributing the fertilizer in measured volumes overv areas while being tilled or cultivated so astoobtain uniform distribution and havingthe fertilizer wor'ked into the ground.

To this end a combined measuring hopper and discharge valve is provided in the hollow handle portion and consists of the flanged partition members 8 and 9, Fig. 4, which are shown in detail in Figs. 11 and 12, they being fastened to the wall of the handle 3 by rivets through perforations Ill, Fig. 12, and having a central opening ll, Figs. 11 and 12, for receiving a hinged pin l2, Fig. 4.

The measuring valve is mounted on pin I2 and consists of a vertical partition l3, Figs. 9 and 10, having quadrant flanges l4 and IS with their radial edges l6 and [1, 180 apart. The valve, which is preferably made of sheet metal, is grooved at the center to receive the hinge pin l2 and a strap I8 is secured at substantially the center of the valve l3 and is provided with a perforation I9 for receiving a knob 20, Fig. 4, by which the valve may be turned in its measuring and feeding operations.

With the valve in the position shown in Fig. 4, there will be an opening 2! through the upper flange partition 8 which permits the fertilizer to drop from the storage chamber 3a of the hollow handle into the valve chamber designated by the numeral 22. As shown in Fig. 8, which is taken along the line 8-8 of Fig. 4, the opening of the bottom partition 9 is opposite the opening in the top partition 8, and as shown in Fig. '7 the quadrant flange l5 closes one-half of the opening of the bottom flange partition 9, the closed portion being in line with the opening 2| of the upper flange partition so that the fertilizer passing into the valve chamber 22 fills said chamber, which is of a size to deliver a desired amount of the fertilizer to the soil to be tilled. At the same time the valve l3 opens the passage 2| to charge fertilizer into chamber 22, the portion previously charged passes out from opening 23, Fig. 6, to the implement end I. vWhen the knob 20 is turned which is between fixed limit stops provided in the hollow handle portion 3,

; orrict opening 2! is closed by the quadrant M as is also the opening 23, Fig. 6. The other half of the valve chamber designated 2211 will then be in communication with the charging opening through the top partition 8 while chamber 22 will discharge its stored volume of fertilizer through the opening in the bottom partition member 9.

The closed portion of the ends of the valve for the two positions of the knob 20 is shown. by the dotted lines 24, Figs. 9 and 10, for a better understanding of the construction and operation of the valve.

It will be evident from the foregoing dQ QIiP:

tion of the invention that an implement for distributing and working fertilizer into the soil as therein described will uniformly distribute and work the fertilizer into the greens meafis' of the measuring valve the amount of fertilizer. used may be definitely ascertained and controlled te ss re ni m, treatm nt f the s tat n zeet Alth u h o t qd een qr theinren ha eenih re x i ustra ed and. d ribed i l be vid n hose stream h a terat s mod iiq tionsme be made n the de ai s f nentries w th ut depar ing. rom. the, izrin iils erein orth.-

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a. fill ng device having. hgllow lie-mile a p urali y Peri ietedper t ons. s aid h n e a valve spo ed bet een, said eeaft j pns s d 4 valve having a wall dividing the space between the partitions, and said partitions having openings communicating with opposite sides of the valve wall so that one-half of the space between the partition members is in communication with the openings in the upper partition while the other half communicates with the openings in the bottom partition, whereby the material in the handle above: the partitions is alternately measured off in predetermined volumesfbetween said partitions and discharged through the hollow handle to the tilling implement.

WILLIAM F. PEYTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 3 s o thi P t nt UNITED STATES PATENTS 

